On Monday the Southern Ohio Port Authority, SOPA, will sign a purchase agreement with Infra-Metals to construct and operate a $13 million plant that will provide 100 jobs in Scioto County.

Jim Warren, mayor of New Boston and SOPA board member for 15 years, said that Mark Haight, Infra-Metals president, and Don Prebola, Infra-Metals plant manager, will join the board of SOPA along with state and local dignitaries at the signing.

“The national economic downturn of 2008 delayed this project, but that didn’t keep us from moving forward and bringing jobs to New Boston and Scioto County. We have been working on two additional companies to locate in the industrial park at New Boston and believe we will be able to make additional announcements in the near future,” said Warren.

Infra-Metals of Wallingford, CT, a subsidiary of Reliance Steel is one of the largest structural steel distributors in the United States. Warren said the goal will be to start construction of the plant in June with operations to begin this fall.

In 1995, SOPA, using the federal government’s designation as a Rural Enterprise Community, began a successful brownfield redevelopment in New Boston.

This former Empire Detroit Steel mill site is now home to manufacturing, commercial and retail businesses that have created hundreds of local jobs. Infra-Metals joins a line-up of the following: OSCO- a gray iron foundry; Southern Fab of Ohio – a fabricator for the US military and private industry; and A&M Refractory.

Bob Walton, SOPA vice-chair, said successful economic development is a public/private partnership that many times requires the public sector to help provide the necessary infrastructure and environment for private industry to then make an investment of capital.

“This project and others at the New Boston Industrial Park was made possible through over $2 million in federal, state and local grants that were used for such purposes as brownfield restoration and infrastructure development. Our board consists of representatives from the public/private sectors and has worked hard to recruit industry to locate operations in Scioto County,” said Walton.

For more information, contact Bob Walton at 740-354-7541.